And now, Greenland
At first, a few months ago, it seemed like a jest More Trumpian. But no, this was serious. And it has been gaining momentum. For days now, the threat from the United States to the sovereignty of Greenland, an autonomous region within the Danish state, has been seriously growing. Now, just after the military removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Washington government's insistence on this strategic territory can only be interpreted from a European perspective as a further affront, not to mention a direct challenge.
Just two weeks ago, US President Donald Trump appointed a special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, the governor of Louisiana, with the explicit mission of "making Greenland part of the United States." Now the White House has reiterated its intentions without mincing words. "No one will fight militarily against the United States over the future" of Greenland, said Trump's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, in a tone that was both defiant and mocking. "We are a superpower, and under President Trump, we will behave like a superpower," he emphasized, just in case anyone hadn't understood.
But this time, European leaders, whether they felt intimidated or not, Yes, they have reacted swiftly and clearly"Greenland belongs to its people. It is the responsibility of Denmark and Greenland, and only them, to decide on matters relating to Denmark and Greenland," reads the statement from the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Great Britain, in addition to Denmark. It is not a confrontational text, but it was swift and clear.
The truth is that the situation has a Kafkaesque quality. How can the United States suggest that it can militarily control Greenland, a territory that belongs to NATO itself? With stark clarity, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen already warned on Monday that this would amount to directly destroying the Atlantic Alliance. What sense does it make for the leader of that alliance to be the main threat to the integrity of one of its member countries?
Undoubtedly, Trump is once again testing Europe's weakness and capacity for humiliation. He doesn't truly believe that his historic allies on the Old Continent are capable of standing up to him over Greenland. And he knows they need him on Ukraine, as was also evident this Tuesday with the announcement of a security guarantee agreement for future peace. In any case, with Ukraine and Greenland at stake, Europe is facing a moment of truth; a moment to decide what it wants to be when it grows up, that is, whether it truly feels capable of making decisions and defending itself, without depending on its former American friend, an increasingly unreliable one. Of course, aside from the decisive military implications, there are many others in the economic sphere. It's no coincidence that, both in terms of security and mineral wealth, Greenland and Ukraine are two crucial regions.
If this constant and unpredictable Trumpian acceleration continues, 2026 could be a decisive year in the reconfiguration of the world's geopolitical map, especially in the Western world, where the US president is changing the playing field every day.
